Canopies mounted upon columns are commonly employed to form lightweight shelters. The canopy basically consists of a roof portion supported by vertically extending columns disposed below the assembled roof portion. The canopy roof portion may be defined by relatively rigid components, such as panels, or may consist of a framework covered by a flexible cover or tarpaulin. In many installations the sides of a canopy shelter are open, but it is also known to enclose the sides of the canopy shelter with fabric such as tent material.
Currently, canopies are widely used as shelters for automobiles, motor homes, picnic tables, boats, and the like, and canopies are often mounted upon boat lifting devices to protect the boat from the weather when lifted from the water surface.
Various types of canopy constructions are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 493,305; 498,583; 3,023,732; 4,347,690 and 4,865,066.
Canopies serve well as a lightweight shelter for a number of purposes and a popular canopy construction consists of a column supported framework over which a flexible cover such as a tarpaulin is disposed. The cover is usually tensioned over the canopy frame, and the frame is usually formed by a plurality of interconnected elongated tubular members which define the size and configuration of the shelter desired.
Canopies used as shelters for automobiles, boats, and recreational vehicles are often required to be of considerable length, such as 25 feet or longer, while canopies used with sheltered items of lesser dimension, such as a picnic table, require a framework considerably smaller than the aforementioned. Typically, canopies are constructed and fabricated in a custom manner to accommodate a particular use and installation, and once the canopy frame is assembled or fabricated its significant size renders the canopy impractical to move or seasonally store. Hence, canopies of conventional construction are not usually considered to be "portable", and under normal conditions canopies are not considered to be "portable" or readily transported or stored.
A need exists for an all-purpose canopy construction which is economical to manufacture, versatile, readily erected and disassembled, and capable of ease of storage and transport.